PillarPILLAR
Start free

Google Earth Pro Alternatives After the 2027 Cutoff

Google Earth Pro downloads end June 25, 2027. See what changes, how to save your places, and which free and paid Google Earth alternatives fit each job.

Pillar team15 min read

Google will stop offering Google Earth Pro for new downloads on June 25, 2027. Copies already installed keep working past that date, and Google recommends Google Earth on the web and its mobile apps instead. The best alternative depends on the job: imagery, measuring, GIS files, video or property lines.

This guide is written by Pillar, one of the land research tools listed below. Facts about Google Earth come from Google's announcement and help pages. Facts about other products come from each vendor's own pages. We checked all of them on November 11, 2026. We have not tested the other products hands-on, so treat each entry as a starting point.

Is Google Earth Pro being discontinued?

Not in the sense of the app shutting off. Google's announcement, posted in the Google Earth Help Community on July 7, 2026, says: "While you can continue using the legacy Google Earth Pro desktop app, it will no longer be available for new downloads beginning on June 25, 2027."

A follow-up post in the same thread on July 13, 2026 answers the most common question directly: "If you're an existing user or download the app before June 25, 2027, you can continue using Google Earth Pro desktop like you always have even past that date."

TechRadar first described the change as a discontinuation. It later added a note that Google had contacted it to say it is "not officially discontinuing Earth Pro on desktop, but is instead halting new downloads".

What changes on June 25, 2027

  • New downloads stop. Google's Earth versions page carries the same notice. Earth Pro is offered for PC, Mac and Linux, and Google's direct installers page lists version 7.3.7 for Windows, Mac and two Linux package types.
  • Installed copies keep running. Google says existing users, and anyone who downloads before the cutoff, can keep using the app past that date.
  • Google points users to the web and mobile apps. The announcement says Google Earth on the web "includes the desktop app's most popular features," plus historical Street View, advanced measurement, a data catalog, project sharing and AI features.

Google's posts do not say whether installed copies will keep receiving updates or security fixes after the cutoff. Some sites state that they won't. We found no Google statement either way, so plan as if the answer is unknown.

One more date matters if you already use Google Earth on the web. Google says to move legacy local KML files by January 14, 2027, because they will no longer be stored in the browser. Download them or add them to a map project.

Google Earth Pro vs Google Earth on the web

Google Earth on the web has added much of what Earth Pro users relied on. According to Google's own documentation:

  • Historical imagery. The web version uses the same imagery archive as the desktop app, including satellite imagery from as early as 1984 and aerial imagery from as early as the 1930s in select cities.
  • Measuring. The measure tool gives length, perimeter and area, with elevation and slope statistics. Google says all results are estimates, not substitutes for survey-grade measurements, and that length and area results don't account for changes in elevation.
  • Elevation profiles. Google added an elevation profile tool on April 30, 2026.
  • Your files. The web version imports KML, KMZ, GeoJSON and zipped shapefiles. CSV and Google Sheets import is labeled experimental. Projects can be exported as KML.
  • Street View and 3D. Street View, historical Street View and 3D imagery are available. An experimental flight simulator arrived on the web in June 2026.

Google's documentation also lists limits:

  • An editable project holds about 10,000 features or 250,000 vertices. Larger files load as read-only data layers that count against your storage.
  • GPX and other formats need converting to KML or CSV first.
  • The free Standard plan includes 1 GB of data import.

Some tools appear in Google's Earth Pro help but not in its web documentation:

We could not find a print command, a save-image command or an offline mode in Google's web quickstart. That is what we checked, not a statement from Google that these features are missing.

Google Earth on the web now has paid tiers. Google's plans page lists Standard at $0, Professional at $75 per user per month and Professional Advanced at $150 per user per month. Google notes that the desktop app and the Professional plan only have similar names, and that you don't need a paid plan to use Google Earth on the web.

How to save your Google Earth Pro places before you switch

Everything you saved in Earth Pro lives in a file on your computer. Export it before you change tools, even if you plan to keep Earth Pro installed. These steps follow Google's migration guide.

  1. Save anything in Temporary Places. Imported data lands in the Temporary Places folder. Google's Pro help says to drag it into My Places and choose File > Save > Save My Places before you exit.
  2. Export one folder at a time. In the Places panel, right-click My Places or a folder, choose Save Place As, and save it as a .kmz or .kml file. Google suggests moving one active top-level folder at a time rather than all of My Places at once.
  3. Find the raw file if Earth Pro won't open. Google lists the folder that holds myplaces.kml. On Windows, paste %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Google\GoogleEarth into File Explorer. On macOS, press Command + Shift + G in Finder and paste ~/Library/Application Support/Google Earth. Both folders are often hidden. A myplaces.backup.kml file in the same folder holds the copy from your last launch.
  4. Split large collections. Google Earth on the web imports about 10,000 features or 250,000 vertices into an editable project. For bigger collections, Google suggests splitting them into themed folders or importing them as a read-only data layer.
  5. Test the export. Open each file in a second tool before you rely on it. Google Earth on the web can open a KML file in its local KML editor without signing in, with no feature limit.
  6. Keep your source files. If you imported shapefiles, spreadsheets or GPS tracks into Earth Pro, keep the originals next to the exported KMZ. Then you can import from the original if a KML copy loses fields or styling.

A short record makes the move easier to check later:

Folder exported:
File name and format (KML / KMZ):
Exported on:
Features in folder (approx.):
Original source files kept? (shapefile, CSV, GPX):
Opened successfully in:
Problems found (missing labels, styles, fields):
Destination tool and project:

Google Earth Pro alternatives by job

Earth Pro did many jobs in one app. Here are the tools that cover each one.

  • Viewing imagery and 3D. Google Earth on the web and mobile. ArcGIS Earth, a free 3D globe from Esri.
  • Historical imagery. Google Earth on the web, with the same archive as Earth Pro. Esri World Imagery Wayback for past versions of Esri's basemap. USGS EarthExplorer for older aerial photos. Acres lists historic imagery in its Plus plan.
  • Measuring distance and area. Google Earth on the web, ArcGIS Earth, and Pillar's free acreage calculator, which measures a lot you outline on aerial imagery without an account.
  • Opening KML and KMZ. Google Earth on the web, ArcGIS Earth, QGIS, Acres, Land id and Pillar. Each has its own limits, listed in the entries below.
  • Shapefiles and other GIS files. QGIS, Global Mapper, Google Earth on the web (zipped shapefiles and GeoJSON as data layers), Land id and Pillar.
  • Property lines and parcels. Regrid, LandGlide, Land id, Acres, Pillar and free county parcel viewers. Google Earth on the web has a built-in Land parcels layer on its paid Professional plans, and on the free plan you can import your own parcel files.
  • Elevation and terrain. Google Earth on the web (elevation profiles, plus experimental contours, slope and cut-and-fill tools) and ArcGIS Earth (elevation profile and line-of-sight tools).
  • Flyover videos. Google Earth Studio for keyframed animations. Earth Pro's Movie Maker for as long as you keep Earth Pro installed.
  • Printing and high-resolution images. Earth Pro's Save Image while you have it. Land id's Pro plan lists high-resolution print maps. Global Mapper includes a map layout editor.
  • Offline use. ArcGIS Earth, LandGlide, and Land id's mobile offline maps.

Best free alternatives to Google Earth Pro

Prices were checked on November 11, 2026.

  • Google Earth on the web and mobile is Google's own replacement. Price: Standard is $0, and paid plans start at $75 per user per month. Best for: imagery, historical imagery, measuring and sharing KML projects. Limits: editable projects cap at about 10,000 features, Standard includes 1 GB of imports, and GPX files must be converted first.
  • ArcGIS Earth is Esri's 3D globe. Price: free to download. Esri offers it for Windows, iOS and Android. Best for: KML and KMZ work, including network links, and use online or offline. Limits: Esri's page offers no Mac or Linux desktop download, and it draws on Esri's Living Atlas content rather than Google's imagery.
  • QGIS is free, open source desktop GIS for Windows, macOS and Linux. Best for: shapefiles, GeoPackage and other GIS files, through the GDAL drivers it uses (GDAL includes a KML and KMZ driver). Limits: it is a full GIS rather than a globe viewer, so you choose and add basemaps and data yourself.
  • Google Earth Studio is a browser animation tool using Google Earth's imagery. Price: free. Best for: flyover videos. Limits: it runs only in desktop Chrome, you must request access with a Google account, and content needs Google Earth attribution. Google says it does not currently license Earth imagery for commercial applications, so read its permission guidelines before client work.
  • Esri World Imagery Wayback is a free archive of every version of Esri's World Imagery basemap since February 20, 2014. Best for: seeing what a site looked like in an earlier year. Limits: Esri dates each version by when it was published, not when the imagery was captured.
  • USGS EarthExplorer serves the USGS aerial photo single frames collection: more than 6.5 million frames, the earliest from 1937, mostly of the United States. Price: medium-resolution downloads are free. Best for: older aerial photos of a site. Limits: you must log in to download, and USGS says the images have not been georeferenced.
  • NASA Worldview shows global, daily satellite imagery from more than 1,200 data products, many within hours of capture. Best for: tracking events such as wildfires and storms. Limits: check each layer's resolution before using it for a single site.

Paid GIS tools

  • Google Earth Professional and Professional Advanced are paid plans for Google Earth on the web. Price: $75 and $150 per user per month. Best for: specialized layers such as 20-meter contours, slope and aspect, US land parcels and, on Professional Advanced, a US zoning layer from Zoneomics. They also raise the import allowance to 10 GB or 20 GB. Limits: Google says that if you cancel or downgrade, projects stop showing the paid layers.
  • Global Mapper is desktop GIS from Blue Marble Geographics. It supports more than 300 file formats, according to its product page. Price: annual subscriptions per named user start at $599 for Essentials, $1,199 for Advanced and $2,199 for Professional. Best for: format conversion on Essentials, terrain analysis and cartographic map production on Advanced, and lidar processing on Professional. Limits: Blue Marble says some new features are for subscribers only, and perpetual licenses stay on the version they have.

Google Earth Pro alternatives for land and property research

Google's Pro help pages describe tools for imagery, measuring, historical imagery and importing your own GIS files. None of the Pro pages we read describe owner records or parcel data. If you used Earth Pro with a parcel shapefile you got from a county, the parcel tools below supply that data directly, along with owner names, mailing addresses and sale details.

  • Regrid is a parcel data company with a Property App. Price: Starter is free with 25 property lookups a day, Pro is $10 a month or $100 a year, and Team is $20 per user a month. Best for: nationwide parcel lookups and exports. Regrid says its app exports CSV, shapefile and KML/KMZ. Pro includes 5,000 rows of spreadsheet data a month; beyond that, Regrid charges per parcel. Limits: Starter has no mapping tools.
  • LandGlide is a parcel map app for phone and desktop. Price: $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year after a 7-day trial. It lists more than 157 million parcel records in over 3,200 counties, with online and offline access. Best for: finding property lines and owners in the field. Limits: the only export we found documented is a CSV of saved locations.
  • Land id maps parcels and owners and builds shareable property maps. Price, per user per month billed annually: $7 for Land id, $12 for Premium, and Pro at $33.33 for three branded maps or tours or $66.67 for unlimited, with a 7-day trial. Best for: presenting and marketing land, plus offline mobile maps. Limits: KML/KMZ and shapefile import needs Premium or Pro, files must be 10 MB or less depending on their complexity, and each KML may hold only one geometry type.
  • Acres is a land data platform. Price: a free account, Plus at $9.99 a month or $7.49 a month billed annually, Pro at $124.99 a month or $94.99 a month billed annually, and custom Enterprise pricing. Best for: land sales data and owner lookups. Acres lists KML/KMZ upload on every paid plan and KML and CSV export on Pro and Enterprise.
  • Pillar is land research software for development teams. Price: a free plan, and Pro at $199 per user per month. Best for: parcel research, owner outreach and your own GIS files on one map. Limits: free accounts take GIS uploads up to 100 MB each, spreadsheets up to 25 MB each and 1 GB of storage in total, and spreadsheets need latitude and longitude columns. See the section below for what it does not replace.
  • County parcel viewers are free maps run by county GIS or assessor offices. Wake County, North Carolina's iMAPS, for example, lets you look up properties by owner name or address. Limits: each county works differently, and you have to find each one.

Parcel lines in all of these tools are mapping records, not surveys. LandGlide's own FAQ says its lines are not intended to represent surveyed property lines. Our guide to deeded acres vs GIS acres explains how to check acreage that disagrees.

Move your Earth Pro work into a land research tool

  1. Export by folder. Save each project folder from Earth Pro as a KMZ, using the steps above. A folder of target sites, a folder of comps and a folder of drawn boundaries should go to different places.
  2. Simplify before you import. Land id asks for KML files with all features in one folder and one geometry type per file. Google Earth on the web caps editable projects at about 10,000 features. Splitting by geometry type and topic suits both.
  3. Import into the destination. Use the formats each tool documents: KML or KMZ for Acres, Land id, Pillar and Google Earth on the web, or zipped shapefiles where the tool supports them.
  4. Check every pin against a parcel. A placemark you dropped years ago may sit on the road, the neighboring lot or a building rather than on the parcel you meant. Our guide to address geocoding vs parcel boundaries covers how to confirm the match.
  5. Re-check areas you measured. Compare the area you drew in Earth Pro with the parcel's recorded and GIS acreage. The acreage calculator has a compare row for exactly this.
  6. Hand off in the right format. Ask the engineer or GIS analyst receiving the result which format their software supports. If they ask for a shapefile, our shapefile handoff checklist covers field names and companion files.

Moving the pins only gets you a map. For each site, the desktop site screening checklist covers what to check next: zoning, flood, access and utilities.

Where Pillar fits

Pillar is for US development and land acquisition teams. You can search parcels by address, APN or owner, and see ownership, mailing address, acreage, zoning, land use and last sale on more than 160 million parcels.

For Earth Pro users, the useful part is file handling. Pillar imports KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, GeoPackage and zipped shapefiles, plus CSV and Excel files with latitude and longitude columns, as map layers next to parcel boundaries. Free accounts allow GIS uploads up to 100 MB each, spreadsheet uploads up to 25 MB each and 1 GB of storage in total; paid accounts allow files up to 2 GB each. Layers you uploaded can be exported again as KML, shapefile, GeoJSON, CSV or Excel on any plan. Parcel layers export their attributes only, without boundary geometry.

Pillar does not replace Google Earth's global imagery browsing, 3D flyovers, Movie Maker, historical imagery or high-resolution image printing. Use Google Earth on the web for global and historical imagery, Earth Studio for flyover videos and Wayback for Esri's imagery archive. Keep Earth Pro, or try QGIS's print layouts, for printed maps and image output.

Quick answers

Is Google Earth Pro still free? Yes. Google made Earth Pro free in January 2015, and the download stays free until it is withdrawn on June 25, 2027.

Will my installed copy stop working? Google says you can keep using Earth Pro past June 25, 2027. It has not said how long installed copies will receive updates.

What happens to my saved places? They stay in myplaces.kml on your computer. Export them as KMZ files from the Places panel. Google Earth on the web, ArcGIS Earth, QGIS and several land tools can open them.

What is the best free alternative to Google Earth Pro? For imagery, history and measuring, Google Earth on the web, because it uses the same imagery. For a desktop globe with offline use on Windows, ArcGIS Earth. For shapefiles and real GIS work, QGIS.

Does Google Earth on the web show property lines? Its built-in Land parcels layer needs a paid Professional plan, from $75 per user per month, and covers the United States, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The free Standard plan does not include that layer, but you can import your own parcel boundary files.

Can I still download Google Earth Pro? Yes, until June 25, 2027, from Google's Earth versions page. If you want it on a computer after that date, install it before the cutoff.